


Control.

by IantosCoffeeIsTheBest



Category: Ianto Jones - Fandom, Janto - Fandom, Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 08:56:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1599086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IantosCoffeeIsTheBest/pseuds/IantosCoffeeIsTheBest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somethings up with Ianto and Jack is adamant about finding out what it is. Ianto keeps blacking out and someone's trying to take over the HUB.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Control.

Ianto was left alone in the hub once again; Jack was out doing something or other, and Gwen was on her one-per-year days off, with Rhys of course, gallivanting the streets of Cardiff, making the most of a trouble free day. Ianto got bored easily but he wouldn't in the hub, there were so many things to do, to clean, to make, to check, to write, a never ending list and because of his abandonment he wanted to get them all done before the silence broke. He preferred to get things done with no one around because then there would be no complaints, no groans, no 'Ianto can you just quickly help me with something', or adding things to his to-do list. He could do things in an order he'd chosen, not it one that suited the team and their preferences. He liked it this way, but did yearn for Jack to talk to him, to make his little jokes about his precision and stickler for detail, it was too quiet.

Ianto had cleaned the coffee cups and the machine, dusted and polished the computers; he didn't know why he bothered because they were constantly being used and it would look like he hadn't bothered to clean them once used. Mopped the floor; because of Jack's muddy boots, he'd told him to take them off or at least brush them off, but Jack was having none of it. Made fresh coffee; even though it was probably going to stand there for a while until Jack and Gwen got back. Washed the boardroom windows, cleaned the autopsy room, tidied Jack's messy excuse for a desk, picked up the dry cleaning; which consisted of Jack's coat, ties, and even a couple of Ianto's suits. He fed Janet and the rest of the things locked in the cells, he fed Mafanway the Petradon, now all that was left was to check the IT systems.

Ianto walked over to his workstation, with his computer; in immaculate condition as always, cleaned, dusted, polished, organised, and filed. It felt weird not having Tosh tell him to get out her seat and that he would pay if he had touched any of her encrypting files. He missed Tosh most of all, sure he missed Owen too, but Tosh is the one he had a bond with, she was the one that didn't treat him like the rest of them did, she was the one that treated him like a decent human being, like one of the team. He entered his username and password into the computer, his username being Eye-Candy, and his password being Redcap, both very funny jokes between him and Jack, he thought it was sweet. He started to check through the Torchwood databases, it was all good. He brought up a schematic of the area and that's when it triggered.

Ianto went very still, his eyes blank and staring at the screen, his mind absent and his mouth dry. He tried to talk but he couldn't, he felt imprisoned inside his own body, like something had taken over him, like, like he was possessed. Ianto struggled and then stopped, he couldn't even do the basics of things and move his fingers, and that's when he blacked out.

While Ianto had blacked out, his body began working regardless, like it was programmed to do something. A piece of metal above his ear, almost like an aerial emerged from his head and started to bleep, a flashing red light constantly signalling. Ianto's body quickly schemed through the torchwood systems opening files using Ianto's knowledge and brought up the nuclear systems and boundaries over at UNIT, he clicked onto the DSAAA (Defence Systems Against Alien Attack) and disabled them, a warning slashing red popped up and Ianto's hand just simply clicked off of the threat. The lights around the hub started to flash in unison and the hubs computer system let out a notice 'Warning, defence systems enabled, warning' in repletion. Ianto's body fell limp and the metal disappeared back into Ianto's head.

Jack was standing on the top of the Cymru building, as he normally did when he wanted to think. The wind was strong and pelted against Jack's coat, its tails gliding kite-like in the air, building momentum. Jack sighed, he had a lot on his mind lately and he just wanted to figure it all out so that he could go back to the hub the next morning with a clear head, which helped with tough decision making. That was part of the reason, the other reason is that Ianto had kicked him out, his exact words were 'Jack, why don't you go out for a couple of hours, do what Jack Harkness does when he rests' Jack just replied, quite sarcastically that he did Ianto, Ianto just tutted and said 'I can deal without you child-ish comments, Ive got a lot of work to do around the hub and would prefer it if you were out, and don't even bother offering to help because we all know how that turns out, you making a mess of things even bigger than they were before'. Jack just huffed and said 'Not all the time, remember that one time with the polish', Ianto remembered it fondly, 'Only you could turn an everyday chore like polishing into something dirty' Ianto replied, 'It's a gift' Jack replied, so Ianto tired of arguing told Jack 'Take your talents and use them on the outside world'. With that Jack left, leaving Ianto regretting asking him to go.

Jack was deep in thought when his vortex manipulator, or in other words 'wrist strap' began to beep. He flipped the leather case open and saw that the words 'Warning, defence systems enabled' flashed as well as the red light, Jack new something was wrong, was he under attack?, but what about Ianto?, where they in the hub?, was Ianto hurt?. All Jack could think about was Ianto's safety, he pleaded with himself that Ianto would be ok, but he knew that sometimes even that didn't work. Jack ran as fast as he could back to the hub, taking the scenic route down the invisible lift so that he could get an overview of the situation. But all he saw was Ianto, lying dormant on the ground near his work station.

"No, no, no" Jack cursed as he made his way over to Ianto. He quickly looked around cautiously before dropping to his knees. First he checked for a pulse, very gently, as he always was with Ianto, unless they were having angry sex. There was a pulse, a strong pulse, Ianto was alive, Ianto was fine. Jack breathed out a gust of air that he had been holding since seeing Ianto without even knowing it. He lightly shook Ianto to wake up, and he did a little dazed and confused. "What happened?" Ianto asked Jack, "I was hoping you could tell me" Jack replied. Ianto held his head, he had a banging headache, "How did..how did I get from there to here?" Ianto pointed to his work station in disbelief. Ianto tried to get up, and the captain helped him too, a little curious as to what happened there, but he knew that he would have to wait for answers. "One minute I was checking the IT systems and the next…eurgh" Ianto dropped to the floor holding his head again "Woah, woah, woah" Jack said catching him before his knees touched the ground, "I think you should sit down for a moment Ianto" Jack said looking worried, "Im fine" Ianto said perching his backside on the piss poor excuse for a sofa they had, he needed to refurbish, add that to the to-do list.

"You look it" Jack said pointing towards Ianto's nose, blood was trickling out of the left side, Ianto brought his fingers up to his lips and gently dabbed the warm fluid with his fingertips, he brought them away and again and looked down at his hand. Blood. "Here" Jack said propping Ianto's head back and dabbing the blood with Ianto's handkerchief that he had to prise out of Ianto's pocket. Little red dots began spreading, enlarging on the handkerchief as Jack kept dabbing Ianto's nose. "I feel like a snotty nosed kid" Ianto exclaimed causing Jack to laugh, "Well your my snotty nosed kid" Jack answered casing a smile to appear on Ianto's lips.

Jack turned to the computer and saw the red flashing warning lights once again, now Ianto was fine he could deal with this. He shook the mouse to ploy the computer awake, it brought up the files about the DSAAA (Defence System Against Alien Attack), Jack just cursed aloud, he tried terminating the encryption, but he couldn't. Ianto sensed the stress in Jack's voice, "What's wrong Jack". "The force field around Whitehall is being removed and the alien attack protocols have gone offline" Jack said a little panic in his voice, "Shit" Ianto said still holding the handkerchief to the bridge of his nose, his head still tilted back. "Shit indeed" Jack replied, Jack hit the enter key and a box for a username and password came up, Jack tried to hack it not wanting to bother Ianto that whoever had done this had done it in his account.

Username, Ianto Jones, Password. Jack thought for a moment, maybe the password was password. Access Denied. Right so Ianto's is a little more advanced, Jack tried the same username but tried Tea Boy as the password. Access Denied. He tried his own name because he was a little vain and thought that Ianto might have used his name. Nope, Access Denied. Jack had to ask Ianto, if he tried anymore the computer would automatically freeze and not come around until the system was rebooted. "Ianto?" Jack called, "Sir" Ianto replied, "What's your username and password?" Jack asked a little hastily. "Why do you wanna know?, can't you use yours?" Ianto asked a little puzzled, "No I can't because whoever has done this was logged into your account and therefore I need your account details to override it" Jack explained. "Oh" Ianto said a little sheepishly, he didn't want to tell Jack them, but hed change them straight after so it was fine, but it was what his username and password was that was causing him the problem.

"Well" Jack said wanting Ianto to give him the answers he needed and fast. Bugger it, Ianto thought and mouthed, he had to tell Jack, he couldn't get up just yet. "The username is Eye-Candy, and the password is redcap" Ianto said quickly knowing that once said he was going to get it. "Eye-candy? Redcap?, seriously?" Jack said looking at Ianto, "Why what did you expect it to be, Jack?" Ianto asked jokingly, but that was exactly what Jack thought it would be, Ianto had caught him out. "Aha!..You thought id make it your name, oh Jack, you are bloody funny sometimes" Ianto said laughing but trying not to laugh so hard that his nose bleed would start over again. Jack just looked down a little disheartened, Ianto caught on, he knew he had nocked Jack's pride for six, "Look if I put your name, as tempting as that is, people would guess it straight away" Ianto said honestly, he had thought of putting it as Jack Harkness, but quickly changed his mind, he knew if Jack found out he would get the piss taken out of him big time.

"So eye-candy, is that with or without a dash and capitals?" Jack said laughing as he said those words, Ianto just sighed, Jack knew now there was no way of getting out of this one, "It's with capitals on the E and the C and with a dash, happy?" Ianto said a little peeved at Jack, but then what was Jacks?, if Jack thought he'd put his name as his would he have done the same for his. "Yup, very happy, aha!, eye-candy, you told me you hated it when he called you that?" Jack said wanting to know why he picked eye-candy if he hated being called that. "I do, but then you called me it and it was..nice" Ianto said knowing that he was already in deep shit. Jack just smiled "You kinky son of a bitch" Jack finally said, casing Ianto to laugh, they both smiled through Jack's re- enabling the defence systems. "I like the redcap though, that should stick" Jack said knowing that Ianto was turning a darker shade of pink, "Oh you like that one do you?" Ianto said liking that Jack liked it, "So what's yours?, an embarrassing names or phrases?" Ianto asked curious, "Now that would be telling" Jack replied not willing to give his away, but he did hint that Ianto was one of them. Ianto just laughed.

When the blood stopped pouring out of Ianto's nose Jack told Ianto he could bring his head down. Jack carefully placed his thumb against Ianto's lips, and brushed it across, wiping away the dry blood. He stopped and looked into Ianto's eyes, he could have lost him today, and that is what drove the passionate kiss that followed. Jack's warm lips pressed hard against Ianto's, Ianto a little shocked kissed Jack's back a little gentler than he had him.

"Jack, I need to tell you something" Ianto said suddenly pulling away from Jack's touch, Jack wrapped his arm around Ianto as he spoke, reassuring him that he could say anything in front of Jack. "Go on" Jack said a little eager than he meant, "Before I blacked out, it was like I couldn't control my body, it was like something was controlling me, like I couldn't control my own body, I tried to take over, I really did, and that's when I blacked out, what's happening to me?...i'm sorry Jack" Ianto told Jack almost braking down into tears. "You have nothing to be sorry for Ianto, come here" Jack said calming Ianto down, pulling him into a hug, "You were right to tell me, and now, now I have something I need to tell you". Ianto froze, he didn't know what Jack was going to say, did Jack know what was going on with him, could he cure it, or was he going to tell Ianto something he didn't want to know.

Jack pulled away from Ianto, but grabbed his hand, stroking the palm with his thumb, "A long time ago, when I was working for the time agency I was brought to a room, not much bigger than this, and I was told to wait to be seen, I didn't know who wanted to see me or why, but I waited. And when they arrived they told me to look into this, this orb, and I did, it showed me dozens of people living in Cardiff, what they would look like in years to come, he told me I had to pick someone, anyone..". At this point Ianto just stared at Jack in amazement; he loved hearing Jack's stories, especially his past, it made Ianto feel special, like Jack was opening up to him more and more as time passed. Ianto listened to the rise and fall of Jack's breath and his monotone fake American accent. He didn't speak, he didn't interrupt, he just listened wondering if it had anything to do with what Ianto had told him.

"So there I was, looking at all these beautiful people, trying to pick one, then I saw you.." Jack said pausing because he knew Ianto would have something to say, "Me!" Ianto asked curious, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Yes you, I picked out, it was your piercing eyes that made you stand out, they looked so innocent, and you kinda looked cute" Jack explained, "Looked cute?, I still do" Ianto joked eager for Jack to finish his story or get to the point. Jack tightened his grip around Ianto's hand, and Ianto knew something was wrong; he prepared himself as much as he could.

"Anyway, this man, he told me that the person I picked I had to.." Jack stopped abruptly, Ianto got more worried every time he hear Jack's voice break, "Jack?, what did you have to do?, tell me, its ok" Ianto asked not really wanting to know. "He said I had to kill you, that a fate worse than death would befall upon you, his words not mine, and that by doing it I would be saving the human race from the future, that something would take you as their host and destroy the human race." Ianto stared at Jack in shock, but tried to pull himself together, he knew this was hard for Jack to tell him, but it was also hard for him to take, but in order for Jack to carry on he would have to push past this. "Kill?, me?, oh god" Ianto said backing away slowly from Jack, he didn't know what was going to come out of his mouth next.

"Ianto come back, I didn't do it, I couldn't, I wouldn't, not to you" Jack explained, and Ianto calmed a little, he wondered back to where Jack was sitting, he could see that this had been a weight on his shoulder for a long time and that telling Ianto was helping him in some way. "So what did you do then?" Ianto asked burning with curiosity, "I argued obviously, but there was no way out of it, so I said I had killed you when really I used the perception filter to hide you, and boy you were one well behaved baby, kinda chubby too", "Oi!" Ianto said, causing them both to laugh, "It was baby fat, you know, I was a baby, hence the chubby". Jack squeezed one of Ianto's cheeks and said jokingly, "Yup, and you haven't changed", Ianto just gave Jack a look and said "carry on". Jack took a deep breath and said "Although I couldn't believe that you could grow up to do such a thing, I was still a little worried, so I kept watch over you, kinda like a very handsome guardian angel", "More like a perv" Ianto added. Jack just smirked and said a little more seriously "So I watched and waited, and nothing happened, then I saw that you were looking for a job at Torchwood and I pulled a few string to get you closer so that I could keep an eye on you".

"So when you met me for the first time, you actually had seen me before and pretended like you didn't, and then made me basically throw myself at you to get the job when you were intending to give it to me all along" Ianto worked out, "Yup" Jack confirmed, "You bastard!" Ianto said playfully nudging Jack in his side with his elbow. Jack just laughed, it tickled, and Ianto didnt hit him nowhere near enough to hurt him, "Eurgh.." Ianto said in realisation, "What?" Jack asked unsure as to what was up with Ianto now, "So that means your kind of like a sugar daddy…eurgh, that is really perverted Jack, you know that, you 'watched' me" Ianto said the last part in quoting fingers. Jack just laughed at Ianto pacing around the room, realising the smallest of things.

"Have you quite finished?" Jack asked Ianto as he wanted to finish what he had started, "Erm..yeah" Ianto said a little disgusted. He sat a great length from Jack, a little weirded out by what Jack had just admitted to, but Jack just pulled him closer and said "Come here, it aint like that, well It kinda is..oh im shutting up", "Probably best" Ianto said leaning in to kiss Jack. "What was that for?, I just admitted to being your stalker" Jack asked confused, "Yeah, but you also admitted to saving my life, and for that I am eternally grateful" Ianto said with a smile and continued to kiss Jack on the lips, a little more longer each time. "I kinda like you being my stalker, its.." Ianto began, "Kinky?" Jack interrupted, "Not the word I would have used but yeah" Ianto admitted.

"There's more" Jack announced in between kisses from Ianto. "More?, is it kinky?, dirty?, saucy?.." Ianto asked in the moment, he didn't want to stop kissing Jack, "Will you shut up for a second!" Jack told Ianto, although he did want to let Ianto fuck him right there and then as a sign of gratitude. "Fine!" Ianto said almost like a naughty school kid, "The man, the one who told me about you, a couple of days later we found that he was a host on behalf of a cyber-man". Jack paused, he knew that Ianto would flinch at those words and he was right, Ianto twitched a little, remembering Lisa, remembering what Jack did, what the team did, they killed her, he then felt anger and then he felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest, he was mourning for Lisa all over again. But he then looked at Jack, and it was like the whole was filled, but he felt sick to the stomach. Jack could see Ianto's eyes tearing up a little, so she proceeded before he had to comfort Ianto once again.

"This man, Richard I think was his name, was found in his office, and it looked like he had tried to convert himself into one of them, and it failed. So he had linked me and you to the cyber-men, and there was nothing more I could do, just watch and wait" Jack explained while Ianto pieced things together once again. "Wait a minute, so does this mean, does this mean that Lisa's death was because of me?" Ianto asked, his voice a little crokey in realisation, "No, it means it my fault, I brought this down on you, I was the one who should have been watching you, I just…" Jack tried to apologise, he knew that it was his fault and he had a feeling that Ianto would not want to talk to him ever again. "It's not your fault Jack, it's those things, they get into your mind, it couldn't be helped, and you can't be expected to look after me twenty for seven, its ok Jack, don't blame yourself, I don't blame you" Ianto said with a plastered on smile, he knew Jack probably had been punishing himself for this and Ianto knew that deep down no one could have stopped what happened, cyber-men are too strong, he knew that from experience.

"But there's more, this Richard, they found that he had a cyber-signalling device wired into him and sometimes I swear it was like he was ignoring me or zoning out, what I'm trying to say is that I think its what's happening to you", "What?, you think there's some metal thing in me, signalling to them, no, no way" Ianto said confusingly, not wanting it to be true, to be controlled by something so evil, that killed the ones he loved, Lisa, and his friends. "Did Lisa ever, did she ever attempt to convert you at any point?" Jack said carefully knowing it was a touchy subject, "No!, No!, it wasn't like that, she wouldn't never.." Ianto said shocked that Jack could think such a thing of his Lisa. "Ok, ok Ianto" Jack said trying to calm him down, placing one hand on his back knowing not to touch him too much, he hated being touched when he felt like this and Jack knew that all too well.

"Did you ever loose consciousness when you were around her, or wonder how you got from one place to another?" Jack asked calmly, "No" Ianto said not wanting to say anything more on the subject, "Ianto, please think, this could help us with what's happening to you" Jack said pleading Ianto to think back as painful as it was for him. "I, once I was helping her walk and I just blacked out, I thought it was the stress or the fact that she was so heavy in that suit, god, but when I woke up I was laying on the table thing.." "The cyber conversion table" Jack added, "Yeah, and I freaked out, but then she told me it was ok, that she just put me there to rest, and I didn't think nothing of it, could she have, no, she wouldn't" Ianto said having trouble finding the words.

"Look Ianto, the thing that converted Lisa made her like that changed her, sure it might have been Lisa for a while but then the cyber instincts would have taken over and then it would have used your emotional attachment to her to get where it wanted to get, Ianto Lisa didn't do this to you, the Cyber man did" Jack said trying to explain to him and make him understand. "So this thing, what does it look like, where was it on Richard?" Ianto asked curious wanting to get rid of it but knew that it wouldn't be that easy, "I dunno" Jack replied honestly, "You don't know!" Ianto replied a little annoyed, "I didn't stop around to look" Jack explained. "Right ok, where do you think it will be?, definitely hidden away so that I wouldn't find it, but where?" Ianto thought for a second.

"Strip" Jack said quiet loudly with a smirk on his face, "You what?" Ianto said thinking Jack said something else and he just interpreted it like that, but this way Jack that he was talking about, "Strip, take off all your clothes, and ill look for it" Jack said with a smile on his face, he was going to enjoy this, "No way, not for your satisfaction, ill look myself" Ianto standing up from his seat and beginning to walk, Jack grabbed his arm, "But you're not a thorough as me" Jack said with a raised eyebrow, "Ianto, I know your body, it's not like I haven't seen it before, just let me check, itll only take a minute" Jack said trying to persuade Ianto, he really wanted Ianto to strip and this was just an excuse.

"Oh fine, any excuse for you to take my clothes off eh Jack" Ianto sighed. Jack smiled in return and reached to undo Ianto's shirt buttons, "'I'm very capable of taking my own clothes off Jack" Ianto told him whilst ushering his hand away, "I know, but where's the fun in that" Jack replied and Ianto agreed, letting Jack remove his clothes, the sexual tension between them rising, and Ianto smirking as Jack undone each button. Jack kissed Ianto and said, "Everything's gunna be fine, let me take care of you" and Ianto just let Jack undress him, he kinda liked it, but wouldn't give Jack the satisfaction of knowing.

When Ianto was stark naked Jack dropped to his knees, slowly brushing a hand down from Ianto's thigh down to his foot. Jack looked up at Ianto and then started to bring his hands up Ianto leg, feeling around every inch of Ianto's skin for anything foreign. Ianto liked it, he really did, and at least it took his mind off of the situation at hand. Jack had worked his way up patting and caressing every part of Ianto's skin in search for the device, nothing yet although Jack was enjoying this as much as Ianto. When he reached Ianto's cock he played with it for longer that he should have, stroking it, inspecting it. "It won't be there Jack, your spending way too much time doing that, its kinda scaring me" Ianto said wanting Jack to hurry up. "I'm being through, 'sides I had this boyfriend once who stole a micro SD card full of dirt on this space time agency and he hid it up his…" Ianto didn't let Jack finish "Thanks Jack, that's enough, I really don't wanna know".

Jack smiled and continued the search, "Arms up" Jack said causing Ianto to sign, "Your having way to much fun with this" "and you aren't" Jack said arching yet another eyebrow. Ianto just smiled and kissed Jack on the shoulder. Jack brought his hands over Ianto's shoulders, around his neck, now for the back of him, Jack was gunna like this. "Don't get not funny ideas Jack, now is not the time or the place" Ianto said knowing where Jack was going next, he almost jumped at the chance. Ianto heard Jack curse quietly in the air and Ianto gave in a little "Maybe later" Ianto said reassuring Jack, Jack perked up.

Jack wavered a hand over Ianto's buttocks, stroking it, squeezing it. "Move on, god you're like a hormonal teenager" Ianto complained, still secretly liking Jack's touch, "Just a quick one?" Jack asked, "No!" Ianto replied, "Please" Jack pleaded, "No, later Jack, now I just wanna get this over and done with". Jack understood and stopped prating about, but when he got to one of Ianto's favourite spots on his body, he did tease him a bit, what was the harm in teasing.

"I can't find anything" Jack said gladly, causing Ianto to exhale in relief, "And you were very thorough" Ianto added, "My thoughts exactly" smirked Jack. "You didn't make this up just to get me naked did you Jack?" Ianto asked just to be sure, he never knew when Jack was being serious or joking, "No, although I liked seeing you without your clothes on" Jack replied. Ianto looked at Jack and then kissed him lightly and began putting his clothes back on, "Spoil sport" Jack said not wanting Ianto to put his clothes back on, resenting the fact that Ianto wore clothes, he had such a nice body, clothes only hid it. "Later" Ianto reminded him. "What about now?" Jack said brushing his hand through Ianto's hair, bringing their heads close together, Jack kissed Ianto passionately, he wanted him bad. But then his had brushed over something above Ianto's ear, something cold and metal, is this what it was?.

Jack pulled away quickly causing Ianto to prise his eyes open with shock, "Ianto don't panic but I think I've found it" Jack said slowly, not wanting to alarm Ianto, he was as scared about it as Jack was. Jack moved back closer to Ianto and felt around the area, and there it was again, a little metal bump. Ianto's face went pale white, he knew that he'd have to remove it and that was going to hurt, he swallowed and Jack comforted him. "It's ok Ianto, I can remove it no hassle, I promise, its gunna be fine" Jack said holding Ianto, wrapping one arm around his waist and the other around his head, bringing it closer to his chest. Jack kissed Ianto's forehead, a little too worriedly.

Jack went off to get the shaver, he wanted to get a closer look and couldn't see with all Ianto's hair there, it was risk that Ianto was willing to take, a bald spot. Meanwhile Ianto tried to feel it, a little scared at first, he couldn't believe it was in his head, why had he never notice it before?. He traced it with his finger, and then pressed on it, activating something. The thing beeped again, a long Ariel coming out of Ianto's head, and he saw it in the reflection off of the computer screens, and then it went blank.

Jack came back to find that Ianto was at a computer screen, typing absent minded. "I leave you along for two seconds and you already working, what am I going to do with you" Jack said, not noticing that Ianto couldn't hear him, that Ianto was not in his own body, Jack didn't see the Ariel poking out of the side of Ianto's head as he was faced the opposite way, he didn't see the flashing lights, but he did notice when Ianto didn't reply. "Ianto?" Jack called thinking that Ianto just didn't hear him, he was mumbling a bit, "Ianto?" Jack said a little more cautious than the last. "Ianto, can you hear me?".

Jack walked up to Ianto, waving a hand in front of his eyes, nothing, Ianto was non responsive. That's when he noticed the Ariel in the side of Ianto's head and almost jumped, it look liked the thick piece of rectangular metal that was stuck above a cyber-man's head, but a thinner, smaller, more advanced one. Jack turned to look at the computer screen, Ianto, or whatever was controlling Ianto had hacked into the Torchwood defence systems and was halfway through decoding them again. Jack knew Ianto's username and password from earlier and had to use them again, but not before sorting Ianto out.

Jack did not know what to do with Ianto, whether he should touch him or not, would his reflex be to hit Jack?. Jack grabbed Ianto's arms gently, nothing happened, but Ianto's fingers continued to type away at the keyboard. Jack pulled Ianto back from the desk, but he kept trying to get back there and finish what he started, Jack pushed him down a little harder than he would have wanted to, onto a chair and quickly tied him up, making the clasps tight so that Ianto couldn't get out. Whatever was controlling Ianto clearly hadn't worked out how to defend themselves or make Ianto's body defend itself, maybe they had only activated it recently.

Jack knew that he could show Ianto a recording of this when he came back to his body because he knew Ianto would want answers, and that Jack didn't take advantage of the situation, as much as Jack loved seeing Ianto tied up, he could never do that to Ianto. After minutes of struggling to get free, the thing that controlled Ianto stopped and Ianto's body fell limp again, the metal that looked like an Ariel inserted itself back into Ianto's head and Jack flinched as it did, it went further in than he had thought. Jack set the cameras in the hub to record so he would know when Ianto was awake, but in the meantime he had to think of something, and fast to get this thing out of Ianto without hurting him too much. He knew that there was going to be a great deal of pain involved whether he used the most advanced piece of alien technology or not. He just had to figure out how.

Jack walked into the basement, he knew that he could probably salvage part of the cyber conversion unit that did this and build it so that it could maybe reverse the process of this antenna thing that was implanted into Ianto's head. Jack told the team he had destroyed the cyber conversion unit after last time, but that was lie, he knew that one day he might have to use parts of it, he just knew it, and he couldn't destroy something as technically advanced as this, even though it was a killing machine. He powered it down and took it apart, no way was anyone using it for bad again. Jack looked through the parts, he was panicking, he wanted to get this done quickly, he didn't want Ianto to suffer anymore, and to be honest he was getting a little scared that the thing that was controlling Ianto would figure out it could do more than just hack the Torchwood systems with Ianto's body. Jack started to build it back together, but tweaking things so that it would not turn anyone into a cyber-man or a hybrid being, he had to make sure of that, and then stopped. He thought for a second, he probably wouldn't have time to test it out when he did complete fixing the wires and joins and placing back in the heart of the machine the energy source. Could he really subject Ianto to this not knowing what it was going to do to him for sure.

Jack was deep in thought. He could remove the thing himself but that would take longer and hurt so much more, he couldn't do that to Ianto, Ianto had been through enough, but he didn't think Ianto would warm to the idea of letting a machine such as the cyber conversion unit, that had taken the lives of so many that he had loved and his friends and wilfully let it work on him. But then Jack thought Ianto trusted him, he would do anything he said, even though he probably didn't think it was right himself, because he was loyal to Jack, and he loved him. Jack knew that Ianto loved him but didn't want to come to terms with the fact because that would mean that Jack would have to show that he loved Ianto too. He didn't want to show it though, that would make him feel almost like he had fallen for someone, and he swore that he would never love again, it was too painful, that he would have fun and leave it there, but there was something about Ianto that made that impossible.

Ianto was beginning to wake up, his head felt heavy and he had the world's worst headache, "Eurgh" he exclaimed when coming to, he hated the fact that he knew immediately what happened, he had blacked out again, but he didn't know what he had done in that time, where was Jack?, did he hurt Jack?. Ianto tried to force his legs to move forward, he needed to find Jack. He then realised that h was cuffed, but that wasn't a problem, even with his weeping eyes he could get out of those cuffs, he had to many times before when Jack had said he'd lost the key, when really he had hid it and didn't want to uncuff Ianto, he was stubborn like that, and thought it was funny.

Ianto thought about Jack again, he knew he couldn't die, but he didn't want to have hurt him, he persisted in finding him, knew that if he got up too quickly he would get dizzy again, he would be no use to Jack in that state. He sat for a while eager to get up, and when he finally did, he got a shooting pain run through his skull. He reached up and grabbed his head, squinting his eyes, his vision was going blurry, his eyes were watering. He had to find Jack still. He wiped his eyes in an attempt to clear them and noticed blood all on his hands. He touched his eyes again, they were bleeding.

Jack had heard Ianto's moans when coming to and he dropped what he was doing to go and check if he was ok, he probably wanted to know what the hell he got up to. When Jack walked up to where Ianto was, half expecting him to still be sat in the chair because of the restraints, but Ianto being Ianto had got out of those as soon as he had come round. "Ianto?" Jack said looking over at Ianto rubbing his eyes, had he been crying?. Ianto looked up and that's when Jack saw the blood trickling down his face like tears, "Ianto" Jack said a little alarmed, this was getting too much, if this happened every time his body was taken over, he didn't know how much Ianto could take of it. Jack ran towards Ianto, looking into his bloody eyes, Ianto bowed his head, he didn't want Jack to see him like this, Jack just ignored that fact and pulled Ianto's head up into his hands, he wiped away the tears of blood from Ianto's eyes with his thumbs and brought Ianto closer. "Oh Ianto" he said hugging him tightly knowing that he needed to do something fast.

"What's happening to me Jack?" Ianto asked, his voice a little muffled as his face was in Jack's chest; the blood was staining Jack's shirt, but he didn't mind, although Ianto did because he would be the one who had to clean it, or explain to the dry cleaners a story. Jack thought Ianto deserved answers, so he gave him the only answer he could give him, the scientific one,"This thing in your head, when it takes over your brain is still active it just puts your mind into a trance, so in order for them to control you and move your body they have to send out little electric shocks in different parts of your brain to get your muscle to work, but it's all happening too often and the shocks are artificial so your brain cannot cope, its causing your nerves and vessels to break under the pressure, you probably don't understand, but its fine, I've found a way to make it right".

"I understand, but what did you say about what you've found?" Ianto said curious, "Well to remove the thing in your head, which is our only option, disabling will be too dangerous because we don't know what it will do, and with it that close to your brain I don't want to take the risk , anyway I could remove it myself, but I'm not going to lie its gunna hurt like hell, and I can't sedate you because when removing it, with it near your brain I need to see if it's affecting you if I do remove it, almost like brain surgery a patient has to be awake so that the doctors can check if they have nicked part of the brain.." "You're going to do brain surgery on me!" Ianto asked in disbelief, "No, although I would make one hot surgeon, listen, there is a second option, but I don't think you're going to like it, but I can assure you it will be less painful and it will be more precise than what I can do" Jack told Ianto leaving a silence whilst Ianto thought. "What do you think I should do?" Ianto asked Jack, Jack just looked at Ianto and said, "It's your decision, it's about time you put across your opinion" Jack explained, hardly believing he just said that.

Ianto thought a little longer and then asked "This second option, what is it?, why won't I like it?" Ianto asked, a little unsure of how he wasn't going to like it. "Come with me" Jack said, reaching for Ianto's hand and walking in silence down through the cells down into the vaults, he stopped outside the door, Ianto knew where he was taking him, back to that room, but why?. Jack looked up at Ianto and then at the door, "You are really not going to like this Ianto, but it is the only way, ok, just don't freak out too much" Jack warned him knowing that this was going to be bad for the both of them.

Jack tuned the key and pushed the door open, then looked at Ianto, squeezing his hand to comfort him. Even through the small crack in the door Ianto could see what Jack meant, he could see the cyber conversion table powered up, it brought back all those bad memories, memories of betrayal, hatred, pain, and hurt, that he felt and inflicted on his friends, on Jack. Ianto swallowed. "You know what this is and what it does, but I've programmed it as best as I can to take reverse specific things, as I told you once before it can't reverse the process, but I can reverse smaller more specific things" Jack explain pointing at Ianto's head. Ianto just said "No" that's all he could manage "No, no, no, Jack I can't do this, I cant" Ianto said freaking out, he walked out of the room, it was getting too much for him, and he closed the door moving over and slowly sliding down the wall with his back until he was seated. He took a deep breath, he had to do something, but that wasn't the answer.

Jack knew it was going to be hard for Ianto but he was sure that Ianto would choose what's best in the end. Jack came out of the room, he saw Ianto immediately and sat next to him. "I want you to do it" Ianto told Jack still looking at the floor, he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact, "Ianto, if I do it I can't guarantee to do it right, I know nothing about surgery, I can't even stitch a wound properly, you know that, I knew I should have found a doctor sooner.." Jack said trying to pry Ianto away from the idea. "I want you to do it" Ianto repeated, "I can't, Ianto, I can't, what if I hurt you, I'm no medic, at least this way I'll know that it's doing the right thing and I know that you will come out of it unharmed" Jack explained wanting Ianto to change his mind. "Why did you give me a choice in the first place Jack if this was what you wanted me to pick all along?" Ianto asked, "Because I thought you'd pick the right choice in the end" Jack replied, "The right choice, how is me going under that thing the right choice, I'd prefer you to do it" Ianto demanded, "You have to, I promise ill make sure nothing goes wrong, I'll be there by your side, I promise, this is the only way" Jack said firmly, he tried to be nice but Ianto wasn't getting that they had run out of options and if they didn't do something fast it would make the situation worse. "Ok" Ianto finally said a little shakily, "Ok".

Jack helped Ianto up, he could see the fear in his eyes but he ignored it, he tried to comfort Ianto, telling him over and over that everything would be ok, that this was the right choice, but Jack knew deep down that he hadn't even tested this rewired device, but it was their only hope, their best chance of Ianto surviving this. Jack looked at Ianto and asked "Are you ready?" before entering the room, Ianto just nodded, his words caught in his throat. He was terrified.

When in the room Ianto kept as far away from the machine as he could, clinging to Jack's side like a frightened child to their parent, Jack understood why Ianto was like this and just placed his arms around him firmly, he smiled as a sign of reassurance, but knew that this plan was not 100% fault proof. Jack typed away at various screens, clicking buttons and looking back at the machine, and then at Ianto. It was ready, but Ianto wasn't. Jack looked at Ianto and removed his arm, he stood in front of him, looking straight into his eyes, "Ianto" he began "Its time". Ianto shuddered so Jack held his face "Everything is going to be ok, I promise" Jack told Ianto, Ianto nodded, scared, and that when Jack kissed him, like he's never kissed him before, it was too passionate, too loving, to soft. Ianto knew Jack was as scared as he was.

Jack led Ianto closer to the machine; Ianto trembling lowered himself onto it, wiping away the tears that were seeping out of his eyes. Ianto laid still whilst Jack secured him in, he was preparing himself for the pain, but knew that no amount of preparation would help him get ready for this. Ianto looked at Jack questionably and said "Are you sure about this?" Ianto said knowing that Jack's trust is all he needed, "Yes, are you ready" Jack asked trying to be the strong one, although he was failing. Ianto nodded once again. Jack pushed the button and the machine roared to life, the red dot that Ianto could see above his head opened up and all sorts of knives and drills on arms started lowering themselves towards him. Ianto grabbed Jack hand "Jack, I'm scared" Ianto said nearly bursting into tears, he wasn't scared he was petrified. "I know" Jack said holding Ianto's hand tighter, "I know, but its gunna be fine ok, it'll be quick" Jack assured Ianto.

Jack still hand in Ianto's turned away and then back again, he kissed Ianto once again and stroked his forehead before turning away. A tear found itself falling from Jacks eyes, and Jack couldn't look back at Ianto because he would know something was wrong. He stood there holding Ianto's hand and waiting to hear the screams.

"Ahurgh" Ianto cried over and over, the pain was excruciating, and he wanted to get free, but he closed his eyes, but they wouldn't stay shut, he thought of Jack and of them, he knew that this had to happen and that it would be over soon and that's all he could hold on to. The knives lowered pass his head hovering over his eyes and it was the most petrified he had been in his life, he now knew how Lisa felt, but she had a much worse fate. The drill brought its way down next to the knife, all of the robotic arms like spaghetti in a dangerous mass above Ianto's head. The screwdriver came down and unscrewed the first screw and it didn't hurt as much as the rest, but then Ianto cursed as there were so many part to this device that his pain seemed never ending until the clawed arm took out the last of the mechanical object and Ianto creamed one last scream.

The machine powered down and the room filled with silence, never once in the events of today did Jack think of calling Gwen, if he did he knew that things would have been much harder and guilt ridden. Jack turned around and saw Ianto laying lifeless on the table, blood seeping from his wound and the pieces of metal clattered all over the floor, what made things worse was that his eyes were open, Jack reached over and closed the lids, when doing so he felt the pang of pain shoot through him. Was Ianto ok?. Jack knew he had to finish the procedure before attempting to revive Ianto. He picked up the syringe of alien tissue, when injected against Ianto's skull it patched it together filling the hole where the device once was. Now Jack had to stick the skin.

Jack hated hurting Ianto, he couldn't bring himself to do it the first couple of tries, but he finally brought himself to do it, knowing the quicker he got it don't the quicker he could wake Ianto up. His stiches were surprisingly neater than the ones he had done before, he didn't know if it was because he was stitching up his lover or that he had improved, either way it didn't matter he wanted his Ianto back.

Jack knew that Ianto was alive, he just didn't know if he was going to wake up, or if he was going to have any long term damage, he was in a critical condition. "I'm sorry" Jack said kissing Ianto's forehead, he got wet swabs and dabbed the area when the device was, he cleaned up the blood and parted the hair that stuck together. He tried to lift Ianto up, but Ianto was too heavy, he needed help, but no one was around. Jack went to find the collapsible stretcher; he brought it closer to Ianto and brought it up to the level of the cyber conversion unit. He paused, he didn't know how he would get Ianto from one thing to another without having to lift him or hurt him. Jack didn't want to touch Ianto, he looked so fragile, but he couldn't let him wake up there, that would be cruel.

Jack rolled Ianto over onto the stretcher and looked at him for a moment, he kissed his head and then wheeled him into the hub, next to the sofa and he propped a pillow underneath his head gently, and covered him up in a sheet. Followed by another kiss on the head, Jack felt so guilty that he couldn't do more for him. Jack went down into the room and took apart the cyber conversion unit, mopping the floor and incinerating the part of the signalled device. He then went to change his shirt, he couldn't let Ianto wake and see the blood, he wanted everything to be perfect when Ianto woke up, and he didn't want to leave a trace of today's events behind, apart from the scar Ianto would have physically and mentally.

Hours later Ianto awoke, a little startled, taking in his surroundings, how did he get here?, was what he was thinking all a dream?. Out of habit he touched his head , it stung, but what was once there was gone. He tried to get up feeling a little dizzy and like he had been hit by a truck, so he sat up instead, holding his head and looking around, where was Jack?. Like Jack had read his thoughts Jack came up to Ianto, coming down from his office where he had been keeping watch, "Ianto, your awake!" Jack smiled and greeted, "how do you feel?", "Like I've been hit by a truck" Ianto replied a little groggily, "Nice" Jack called out, "At least your awake now, I didn't think you were gunna wake up, it took so long, I thought..", "Its ok Jack, I'm awake now, none of that matters, here help me up will ya" Ianto assured him.

"Looks like you've cleaned up, that's my job, but I don't mind you doing it once in a while, but seriously Jack, if you've just chucked all the stuff to clear a "Noted" Jack replied smiling. He walked up to Ianto and hugged him, he held him tight and wouldn't let go, exhaling as he brought Ianto closer. Ianto didn't mind,, in fact he wanted to feel Jack's touch, he was thinking that this was all a dream, but hugging Jack made it real, he tightened his grip around Jack too, closing his eyes and smiling. Jack looked down at Ianto and said "You missed me huh?, you were only out for what…4 hours?", "Shut up" Ianto said a little embarrassed, "You know what this means don't you?", "What?" Jack asked a little curious as to what Ianto was going on about, "This means you're going to have to wait on me hand and foot!" Ianto said through giggles. "Mmm, I like the sound of that" Jack teased, "Me too" Ianto replied just as Jack bowed his head to kiss Ianto's lips.

Suddenly they heard footsteps, heavy, metal, footsteps, Ianto jumped immediately; he knew that sound, it was the sound of a cyber-man. He froze, still looking in the direction of the sound, he looked up at Jack and Jack said "Looks like they've found out they've lost the signal and thought they'd come check things out themselves", "They?" Ianto asked, "Well if ones here I'm sure the rest are nearby, the travel in groups, as if ones not bad enough" Jack answered, Ianto looked in the direction of the sound and then back again to Jack, "What are we gunna do?" Ianto asked Jack for advise, Jack was the leader, he knew these cyber-men better than Ianto, "We run". "What?, Jack we can't, we don't know where it's coming from, you even said there might be more, what if they are at the exits, and if you haven't notice, I'm still recovering, I think running would be out of the question" Ianto argued, "Do you trust me?" Jack asked Ianto calmly, "Yes Jack, of course I do, what kind of question is that!" Ianto replied panicking, "Then run!, I'll hold it off" Jack told Ianto.

Ianto didn't want to leave Jack, he couldn't bare the thought of Jack getting hurt or dying because of him, sure Jack would come back to life but then he would feel forever in debt to Jack, and the fact that this wasn't right, he brought the cyber-men down on Jack, it was his fault and now he gets a get out safe card and Jack has to face it. "No way Jack, I'm not leaving you, this is my mess" Ianto told Jack, "Go and go now, I'll be fine, you know I will" Jack said with a reassuring smile that Ianto saw straight through, "I'm not leaving you to die, Jack please, we can run together" Ianto said with his eyes watering. Jack looked at Ianto and kissed him quickly then said go "But.." Ianto argued, "Go!" Jack said with his eyes on the cyber-man coming around the corner, It had seen them, "delete!".

Ianto took one last look at Jack and then ran, Jack sighed a sigh of relief, Ianto was out of harm's way and that's all that mattered. Ianto ran to the cogged door and looked back just for a second to see Jack and his screams, he feel to the floor and then the cyber-man was coming for him. He turned quickly as the door was taking its time to open, he was shaking and didn't want to leave Jack but he knew he had to. The cyber-man walked towards Ianto when Jack got up and threw the nearest thing at it, "I'm not that easy to get rid of!" Jack shouted, "Don't you lay a finger on him, you do, and so help me god I will take you apart piece by piece, even if it takes me forever, I'm not afraid of dying" "Delete!" the cyber-man tuned back to Jack and sent out a ray of electrical pulse from its arm, he fell to the floor again and Ianto began to cry.

Ianto had got out. He got up to the tourist desk, his tourist desk, and used the phone to call Gwen. Yes it was her day off but this was an emergency and Jack was in trouble because of him. Ianto kept looking back as he tried to get through to Gwen. "Hello?, Ianto?, what is it?" Gwen answered; she knew something must be wrong because Ianto would never disturb her personal time if it wasn't important. "Gwen..i need your help, Jack, and a cyber-man, I got out, I can't help him, I need your help.." Ianto said not making any sense, "Slow down, what's happened?" Gwen asked a little worried about Ianto, "There's no time, I'll tell you when you get here, please get here" Ianto pleaded, "Ok I'll be right there, meet me at the water tower" Gwen agreed and then dropped the phone.

"Where are you going luv? Rhys called out as Gwen was grabbing her gun and shoving it down the back of her trousers, "Work, emergency, Ill explain later" Gwen said in a rush to get out, "Oi, oi, oi, where's my kiss then!" Rhys complained. Gwen ran back over to Rhys and kissed him goodbye, then took the car keys off of the side and ran to the car. "Bloody brilliant" Rhys called out pissed off that Gwen had to go into work on her day off; he hardly got to see her, "Bloody Torchwood".

While waiting for Gwen Ianto could hear the footsteps and put the hub in temporary shutdown, which required a password to power up again, Jack had told him to shut it down completely but he couldn't do that, not to Jack, knowing he was still in there, fighting for him. Ianto pulled the leaver and entered the password, real silver, and heard the computer say "Temporary shutdown commencing" whilst the red warning light underneath the desk started to flash.

Meanwhile Jack had been deleted about five times, he didn't stop that easily, but each time he awoke he tried something new to bring down the thing. He really wished he had that gun that Rose had last time; he could do with one of them lying around. Tell Ianto to get one he thought to himself when trying to figure out his next move. In the space of ten minutes he had died five times; the first after taking a hit for Ianto, the second after lobbing something at it so that Ianto could escape, the third when he tried to jump it from behind and wrench the steel open so that he could pull a few wires out, but that was unsuccessful. The fourth was when he tried shooting at it with an alien piece of weaponry that is supposed to evaporate non-human life forms, but something told me this alien steel was protecting it in some way, and finally just a few minutes ago he had tried to make it chase him around the hub until he thought of another plan, but it caught up with him too quickly, he locked it in his office to buy him some time, but it just smashed through the glass with a hand and deleted him.

Jack was running out of options and every time he came back he felt a little weaker, like he had been drained of energy, he tried to play dead but the thing knew he wasn't, he was in deep shit and didn't know how he was going to get out of this one, Ianto had started temporary shutdown, even though Jack specifically told him to put it in full shut down. Did that mean Ianto was coming back for him?, he hoped that he was, but he didn't want him to get hurt. Jack had to think of something and fast.

Gwen had arrived and she had ran towards the water tower, she had just seen Ianto, he was standing right next to the spot where they agreed to meet, pacing up and down with his head in his hands, he saw Gwen then began to wipe away the tears, she couldn't see him like this. "Ianto?" Gwen called "What's going on?", "Its Jack, he's in there, a cyber-man was after me, it's a long story, and Jack said that he's distract it while I escaped, I can't leave him in there Gwen, every time he get killed, every time he comes back to life again, I feel like something's been ripped out of me, I need to help him, this is my fault, what it he doesn't wake up, what if it drains him too much and he actually dies, what if he is trapped..". Gwen cut in "Ianto, its ok, well get him out, don't worry" she said hugging him; he looked like he needed it.

"Right, what would kill a cyber-man?" Gwen said allowed, she didn't want to mention last time, because even though it was a cyber-man, it was Ianto's girlfriend, and she had not fully transformed so maybe the same rules didn't apply, there was no flesh left open, it was just machine. Ianto thought for a second, "Shit!" he exclaimed, "What?" Gwen asked, "We've got those alien stun guns, the ones that give off enough electrical power, when used, to power the whole of Cardiff, I think they'll work, but the only thing is they are in the hub, in the safe, shit!, shit!, shit!" Ianto cursed. "Right, ok, that's good, well have to go back in, have you put the hub into shutdown?" Gwen asked a little worried that Ianto had, but if he was going to go back in there to help Jack he wouldn't have, would he?. "No, I put it in temporary shutdown, so the computer just needs a password for the hub to come back online" Ianto explained, "Right, one of us will have to distract it, while the other gets the guns, but these things are strong, how are we going to hold it off, I mean, Jack will keep it busy wont he?" Gwen asked, "If hes still alive" Ianto muttered with tears in his eyes.

"Ianto, don't worry, he'll be fine, all we need to do is get in there" Gwen assured him, "if only it was that easy" Ianto added. Ianto thought for a moment, he needed to get in there quick and knew he couldn't put Gwen's life at risk, it was his mess, he needed to deal with the consequences, "Ill distract it and you get the guns right, as soon as you do, shoot ok?" Ianto told Gwen his plan, "No, Ianto" Gwen cried, "It's the only way Gwen, ill be fine" Ianto reassured her. When they had agreed that Ianto was going to be the decoy, much to Gwen's better judgement, Ianto told her "I'll go through the tourist office, put the hub back online, you go on the invisible lift, its closer to the safe and when you are lowered, I'll go straight in and check on Jack and distract it". Ianto took charge and Gwen just went along with it, she didn't know what else to do and that was a bloody good plan.

Ianto ran back around to the tourist office, he could still hear the footsteps but ignore them, he had to get Jack out of there, he typed in the password once again and the computer began to say 'Hub back online' as Ianto clicked on his com and said "Gwen, I've put the hub back online, go, I've got your back", "Ianto?" Gwen said, "Yeah" Ianto answered, "Be careful" she told him. Ianto cut the call and stood infornt of the door, he took a deep breath and opened it, walking through and reaching the cogged door. From here he could hear Jack's voice, echoing through the hub, he could hear the cyber-man's footsteps grow louder and louder. It was his chance now, and he went, opening the cogged door and seeing Jack and the cyber-man turn towards him.

Jack looked worse for wear; he looked drained, out of breath, half-dead. Ianto thought that he had done this to Jack and deserved to take his place. "No Ianto, get out!" Jack called from across the room as the cyber-man walked closer to him. "It's ok Jack, everything's gunna be ok" Ianto called swallowing his fear. "Hey!" he called to the cyber-man that Jack was trying his best to distract, "No!" Jack shouted, but it was too late, it looked like the cyber-man had lost interest of Jack and wanted fresh meat. "Yeah you!" Ianto called at the cyber being again, "You want me?, that's what you came here for isn't it?, me?, well here I am!, come and get me" Ianto challenged with Jack's face frozen with shock.

Jack felt sick to the stomach, it wasn't because he had died numerous times and had run out of energy, but because Ianto was acting strange, and Ianto was so close to death, he could just see it happening, why did Ianto come back for him?, why couldn't he just have left him like he asked?. Was it for the same reason as Jack was willing to sacrifice himself for Ianto?, because he loved him and couldn't bear to see him hurt?. Jack looked over to Ianto, he could see he was putting on an act and he was really terrified inside, Jack knew them looks too well. Deep in thought Jack looked over to Ianto one last time before trying to help Gwen down from the step and gave her the combination of the safe.

As soon as Gwen was lowered from the step she could see the hurt in both Jack and Ianto's eyes, they loved each other but they wouldn't admit it, but she knew. When she saw the cyber-man in front of them, she held her hand to her chest, how were they going to get out of this one, she had no idea. She practically jumped off opf the step because she wanted to be quick, she ran over near Jack's office, up the stairs, going unnoticed by the cyber-man, which was something and she climbed through the smashed window thinking that the door would take too much time, she ignored the glass scratching her should as she squeezed through, and ran straight to the safe. She entered the number combination, wanting to know how on earth she remembered it, and quickly pushed the shutter open as it was opening itself but at a slower pace. She quickly grabbed the gun-type object out of the box and ran back out of the office and through the smashed glass window.

When she trampled her way down the steps she could see that Ianto was getting to close to this thing, he must have balls she thought as she tried to get closer but finding that her heart had escaped her chest. As she was moving closer slowly, trying not to catch attention her foot caught on some wiring that had been left all on the floor where she stood like spaghetti and she cursed allowed. The cyber-man looked up and she thought, shit, she'd done it now. She knew she could use the stun gun but not on the front, it had to be on the back where the wiring was otherwise it wouldn't work, it would just simply slow it down. The cyber-man tuned and was walking towards her, gunning for her when Ianto got in the way, it was about to lift its arm to delete her when Ianto stood in front of it.

Jack watched Ianto's every move, and when he made the last one, how stupid he had been. Jack cursed again, he couldn't let Ianto die, and he wouldn't be able to cope or bear the thought. He jumped in front of him and pushed him aside just before the cyber-man sent a pulsating line of electric out from its hand. Jack took the blow and he jolted before falling to the ground, Ianto didn't notice until it was too late and he hated himself for it. "Gwen! Now!" Ianto called out as Gwen had the perfect position to shoot, and she did, causing that cyber-man's voice to scream out and go out of tune, and fall to the ground with a big bang. The metal suit falling lifeless to the ground to the relief of Ianto and Gwen.

Gwen stood still in shock with the alien substitute for a stun gun in her hands, her fingers slowly loosening her grip on it until it fell to the floor breaking the silence. Ianto quickly got up ignoring the jabbing pain in his back and ran over to Jack, he didn't care that the cyber-man was right beside him, it was gone. Dead. Ianto looked at Jack's unmoving body, he looks so peaceful, at rest, his skin was white, his lips a darker shade of blue than before, and his eyes closed. "We have to move this thing, just encase" Gwen said softly to Ianto, knowing what he had told her about feeling like something was ripped from his body every time Jack died, and she understood, she knew from when Bills had played around with Rhys' life in order for the team to open the rift, that it hurts so bad that you just don't want to live without them. Even though they both knew that Jack would come back, it still didn't stop Ianto from feeling the aftermath and Gwen to doubt that he actually would come back to life and that his luck hadn't ran out.

Ianto cleared his throat, he took one last look at Jack and leant down to kiss his lips. They were cold and hard, the only moisture that was only them was transferred from Ianto's lips to his, "Ill be back, I promise" Ianto whispered into Jack's ear before getting up and placing a pillow from the tattered sofa behind Jacks head. Gwen just watched, Ianto was loyal to his master, but loved him too much. She knew that Jack didn't show his feelings and half of the time he used Ianto just for sex and nothing more, but she was beginning to see a change, she just hoped that it went Ianto's way. She knew that Ianto loved him, and all he wanted was for Jack to say that he loved him back, but something told her that he wasn't going to say that anytime soon, which saddened her.

Ianto stood up straight and looked at the inactive cyber-man that lay on the floor next to Jack, he felt the hate and resentment wash over him but tried his best to keep it under control. "Ill take the top, you take the bottom, or we could take the top and middle and drag the feet cos I don't know how heavy it's going to be" Ianto said logically, looking back at Jack every two seconds to see if he was close to waking, he wanted to be there when he awoke. If he woke. Gwen thought it would be best to take the middle and Ianto followed taking the head, "1,2,3 Lift" Ianto called out, and they both lifted as best they could the dissipated remains of a cyber-man into the cells, noting that it was extremely heavy. "You would have thought that alien technology advancing and all that they could come up with a lightweight metal" Gwen joked, and Ianto laughed, causing the pain in his back from earlier to spike up again.

Ianto struggled to drag the cyber-man any further with the pain shooting up his back, but he carried on, quietly as he normally did, and Gwen didn't even notice until he turned around and dropped the carcass of the cyber-man into the cells and he turned around. She couldn't quiet make it out but there was something dripping down his back, the light was bad, but as she got closer she could see that he had a shard of glass in his back. "Ianto" she called out, wondering if he was in any pain, if he was he was hiding it well. "Yeah" Ianto answered, wondering if he had done something wrong, his head was all over the place, "Stand still for a moment, I think I see something on your back" Gwen instructed, "It isn't a bug is it, or a spider, errr if it is get it off" Ianto squirmed, not like creepy crawlies.

As soon as Gwen touched the area Ianto yelped, "Ianto, you've got some glass in your back, bloody hell, you kept that pain quiet" Gwen said a little amazed, "Oh, I thought I just landed badly, and I was gunna look at it later, you know when Jack was ok and this was all dealt with" Ianto admitted, "I think its best I have a look at it now don't ya think, I mean, it's in quite deep" Gwen said noting how loyal Ianto was. She closed the vaults and looked back to check if the cyber-man was still dead, or whatever it was, she then turned and took Ianto's hand. "Come on, let's get that seen to" Gwen said softly to Ianto, and Ianto in more pain than he was before agreed, and hoped that Jack didn't come back around until he was sorted out.

Gwen was no medic but she learnt a lot from Owen when he was around, they all did, and now that they had no medic and they had hurt themselves, they had to patch one another up, it kind of came naturally, especially bullet wounds. This was just like a bullet wound Gwen thought as Ianto took off his jacket, tie and then his shirt whilst she got the equipment. It was more like routine getting the swabs and the tweezers, the alcohol that had been mostly drunk to the bottom of the bottle, but it was enough, the needle and thread for stitching and the large sized plaster for the wound after.

Ianto sat still overlooking the room to see if Jack had moved since they left him, he hadn't, it had taken him longer to come around this time because the more he dies and gets brought back to life, the less energy he has and therefore the longer it takes for him to wake, and dying around seven times in one day is a hell of a lot. Gwen could see the constant checking and looking over at Jack got Ianto's hopes up and then when he saw Jack was the same as the last time he looked, he sighed again. "You ready" Gwen asked Ianto as she was about to remove the first of the smaller bits of glass, because if she move the bigger on first there would be too much blood and then the other smaller piece of glass would be hardly recognisable. "Just do it" Ianto said in a quiet monotone mutter, "He'll be fine Ianto, up and about before you know it, just let me take care of you first" Gwen told him and Ianto agreed.

Ianto thought of the words 'take care of you' over in his head, Gwen had just said them, but that's what Jack had said to him many times before, he stopped for a second, he knew Jack was coming back, why was he acting like this. Gwen pulled out the first little piece of glass and dabbed the area, it wasn't in that deep, and the glass shard was too small for Ianto to need stitches on that cut, so she moved to the second shard. Ianto didn't make a sound other than the odd intake of breath signifying that it hurt, and Gwen would apologise every time "Sorry" Gwen told him. "Its ok, really" Ianto told her with a reassuring smile, this was harder for her to do because she didn't like hurting people, she didn't like the thought of cutting someone open, if she did then she would have been a doctor herself. She didn't like the sight of blood that much but she forced herself to do it, otherwise Ianto would be in pain.

As Gwen was taking out the last of the little pieces of glass that had found their way into Ianto's back, Ianto noticed that the colour was coming back in his face, and he quickly jumped down off of the table and over to Jack's side. "Where are you going, I haven't finished, Ianto?" Gwen called out, Ianto ignored her, but then felt bad and said "Sorry Gwen". Ianto, still bleeding and with the big shard of glass still sticking out of his back and the pain still coursing through him back, knelt down beside Jack and brushed a hand down his cheek, he saw the colour come flooding back into his face. Ianto nearly smiled, but Jack wasn't out of the woods yet. Ianto lifted Jack's head off of the pillow and on to his lap, looking down at Jack until he awoke.

Jack took a big gust of air in and his eyes flared open. His pupils widening and taking in his surroundings, taking in Ianto's smiling face and his glistening eyes, although it was a little weird as Ianto was shirtless. Jack rubbed his eyes because he thought he was dreaming or his eyes had gone funny or something, was Ianto really shirtless?. "Welcome back" Ianto said through smiling lips, he didn't know why but every time Jack came back to life, after the feeling down and hurt, a smile became plastered on his face. "Good to be back" Jack said a little groggy, "Did I miss anything?, oh and why are you shirtless" Jack said reaching up and stroking Ianto chest.

That's when Gwen cut in "I was taking glass out of his back and then he just ran over here halfway through, I told him to come back but he won't" Gwen explained, Jack looked up at Ianto and said "I leave you alone for one minute and your already being a naughty boy" Jack joked, "You'll have to teach me a less later then, sir" Ianto jokes hinting at their sexual endeavours. Jack just smiled and Gwen said, " You two are a right pair, Ianto come on, I need to get that big piece of glass out of your back", "Yeah, in a minute" Ianto replied like a child that didn't want to come down for dinner because they were playing with a toy. "No, Now!" Gwen said quiet sternly, Ianto looked up as if to apologise and Jack laughed once again. "Mind if I get up and watch" Jack said wanting to get up off of the cold floor, not that Ianto's leg wasn't a really comfy cushion.

Ianto helped Jack up and then half carried him down the stairs down to the autopsy room. Ianto placed Jack carefully onto the table so that he could sit and recover, and Ianto sat and watched Jack as Gwen attempted to take the glass shard out of his back, "I'm not gunna lie but this is going to hurt like hell, but try your best to keep still yeah?" Gwen told Ianto, "He will" Jack told her, "I can answer for myself" Ianto told Jack, "I love it when you get angry" Jack replied "Grr" Ianto growled causing them both to laugh, both Ianto and Jack, even Gwen giggled a little. "You two are like a bloody double act, now come on, let me get this out, stitch it up then you two can go and play like the kids that you are". "Yes mam" Jack saluted, causing Ianto to laugh and Gwen to tell him off because he didn't keep stil.

"Right, here goes" Gwen said moving the tweezers over towards the glass shard and then gripping it. Jack smiled at Ianto and then Ianto laughed back at the awkwardness of the situation, "Right that's it!" Gwen told them both, "If you wanna act like children fine, you both can play doctor and nurses and remove this glass out of Ianto's back!", Gwen said sick of grabbing it and then having to let go carefully when Ianto moved encase she logged it in any further. Jack and Ianto looked at each other then laughed again, Gwen walked out of the room in a huff and went to call Rhys, "Sorry Gwen" Ianto called as she walked.

"Let's have a look at my patient then" Jack said jumping off of the table and going around to have a look. "She weren't lying about the 'big'" Jack noted as he picked up the tweezers from the trolley with the equipment on next to him. "Hold still" Jack said gripping hold of the glass and having a swab close at hand to mop up the blood. He pulled it out as gently as he could, heaving Ianto moan made him feel guilty, then suturing the wound. "Next time I'm letting Gwen do it, you're a butcher" Ianto moaned, "The welsh moaning has returned" Jack muttered, "Oi!" Ianto exclaimed, "I know you would have rather Gwen done it, but Gwen wouldn't make it up to you later will she, whereas I will" Jack told Ianto smiling suggestively. "You're in for it later Harkness" Ianto told him, "Can't wait" Jack told him. Ianto put his shirt back on, much to the disgust of Jack who argued for him to keep it off although Ianto told him he could always walk around shirtless if he really wanted.

"I'm off then, to salvage the rest of my day off, Ianto you gunna be ok?" Gwen called out, "Yeah thanks Gwen, sorry about earlier, he put me up to it, he's a bad influence" Ianto told her, "and don't we know it" Gwen told him looking directly at Jack that was speechless. "Don't I get a goodbye?" Jack called out after her, "No, your corrupting Ianto and plus Ianto has been through the wars today, you better treat him right!" wen said jokingly as she left.

"Corrupting?, and what's with you selling me out?" Jack looked at Ianto and said confused. "Payback for being a butcher" Ianto replied sarcastically. "Oh you're so gunna get it" Jack called out through his laughter as he ran after Ianto who had already ran off the second he heard Jack speak. Jack ran after him a little faster than Ianto had first thought and cornered him, tickling his ribs and pinning him to the wall. "So when's your payback gunna start?" Jack asked laughing at Ianto's failed attempts to get free from Jack's vice grip of him against the wall. "Soon" Ianto answered kissing Jack's lips, "Really?, what about now" Jack asked wanting to know what Ianto's punishment will be for him. "Now's a good time" Ianto said in-between kisses from Jack, "mmm yeah" Jack muttered pressing against Ianto, Ianto returned the kisses and started to wrap his arms around Jack. Jack held Ianto in his arms and let his hands wonder down to Ianto's arse, Ianto moved his hands and placed them on Jack's pulling them up around his waist. "I'm gunna top you as punishment" Ianto told Jack through pursed lips, "Now that is what I call punishment" Jack said annoyed that he couldn't top Ianto but still continued to kiss him softly.

Ianto, still up against the wall and being smothered by Jack, pushed back off of the wall and started to undo Jack's shirt whilst walking him to his office, "Your eager" Jack commented and Ianto looked back up at him and said "You owe me", Jack just smirked and began to take Ianto's top off careful of his stiches, but when he glided his hands over Ianto's back and he flinched, Jack apologised, "Its ok" Ianto said as Jack positioned himself behind Ianto to kiss his wound. "Don't get any ideas back there, you, I'm on top and no arguments" Ianto said sternly causing Jack to raise an eyebrow, "Feisty one you are" Jack replied, "You love it really" Ianto told him as he held him for a moment; both of them shirtless. Jack bowed his head down to Ianto's ear, kissing it softly and then over the scar of the device, making sure he kissed every inch gently, then he whispered into Ianto's ear, "You're all mine Ianto Jones".


End file.
